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Absolutely! I would like to have a better idea of what I bought. I know there is some awesome crane wallpaper in perfect condition.

Have you ever read about Frank Lloyd Wright's "textile blocks"? He sort of invented the whole decorative cement block used for screening, privacy, and light idea. I'm not an expert, and I'm not saying he built your house, but it might give you a historical design background on the style of your new house which might help you evaluate how you want to update it. I think it looks like a fabulous place from the outside, what an awesome find!

No I have not wanderbug. That sounds like a great idea, though. We will have to check it out. We were on the hunt for MidCentury modern and this amazing house popped up out of nowhere. I started laughing when my realtor told me our offer was accepted. I can't imagine how many offers they got. Thank you so much. We are very excited to get started.

Your house is stunning!

Thank you life4real!

Here are some pics of the inside. We just got the keys two days ago and all the carpet is being removed. We plan to replace it with bamboo. There is pungent cat order so in depth cleaning has to happen after carpet and all drapes are removed.

You may want to treat the subfloor before you put in the flooring. Cat odor can be very hard to remove and can seep into concrete, etc.

Forgot to say the inside looks fabulous! I'm so excited for you! I hope you continue to share pictures and take us with you on this journey!

life4real what do you think would be good to treat it with?

These are some pics from our 1956 fixer upper we switched the DR for a better kitchen and removed wall and created DR in old kitchen Just some ideas to get you going.

I'm sorry to say I'm not sure. I just know some years ago I was considering a home that had a bad cat smell. My realtor looked at it and told me to forget it. He said I would never get the smell out. I'm sure there is a way, but I would contact a flooring expert or a very experienced contractor. I wonder if you should post it as an urgent design dilemma on Houzz? You may get some pros that would have the answer. Sorry I can't be more help.

cat odor can be hard to get rid of. i'd remove the things you intend to remove but dont put down more flooring until the smell is gone gone gone, or it will creep up through again.

Thank you life4real. It's getting better with the removal of the carpet but I can definitely see it on the walls. I will post as design dilemma.

I had cat-pee-and-nicotine odor in my concrete slab when I bought my house. My contractor poured bleach all over and let it sit overnight (with windows open and the house vacant). The next morning she mopped the concrete with fresh water, and then left it to dry for several days. It did the trick. I've been here 4 years and never had a problem.

Your house is great, congratulations on a fantastic find!

I love the kitchen and matching built-ins! Hope you can keep all that beautiful vintage wood while updating the details. (That kitchen would be gorgeous with a white quartz counter!!)

There is a product available at pet store called Nature's Miracle. It's a liquid full of enzymes that eat odors. It works great and leaves no funky after odor. I would try that first.

this is a really cool house, but the cat odor...In the remodel, I'd budget for new sub flooring and new materials/drywall on the walls. This isn't that expensive, and will save you from the "hey- it's all good today", only to find out on a rainy/humid day that the smell is back.

Another venue on Houzz's site is "Home Forums"- from the drop-down menu. Click that, there's a remodel category. Lots and lots of pros hang out there.

thank you orangecamera. Definitely have my work cut out this weekend!

I have no affiliation (just a MCM fan), but you may be interested in reading the blog, retrorenovation.com, if you're not already familiar with it. It has a wealth of interesting information regarding remodeling, preservation, design, even safety topics in dealing with vintage homes. Congratulations on your lovely MCM home!

Nature's Miracle is amazing stuff, but you first need to assess how large of an area is responsible for the pet odor. I would definitely do a few treatments in the areas that were the apparent favorites. You'll have to do something else for the rest, unless you have deep pockets. NM is expensive.

Great house, btw!!!

....and not to be a complete buzzkill..... ;) But you really better be careful with the bleach. Bleach + ammonia (urine) = chloramines. You don't want to breathe in that type of gas. You're not even really supposed to clean out a litter box with bleach for this reason.

Depending on how much time you have with the carpet out, I would assess the situation (are there a few very concentrated spots), dump $50-200 into Nature's Miracle (depending on size of affected area), and do a couple of the enzyme treatments over the course of a week or two. This will break down a huge amount of the ammonia (which is why it works). Then decide if you should do bleach (I'd be curious about the type of floor - not sure if this is a good idea on wood subfloor, I would think not! - Concrete slab would probably be ok). [ETA: Nature's Miracle only, I've tried 5 brands, NM is the only one that works]

Anyway, if you forego my advice and do bleach, get OUT when you smell a chlorine type gas. It's not worth dying over. I am a biologist that works with chlorine products, and I also gassed myself out of my house for four days a few years back in a situation that should have never allowed that to occur. It was an expensive mistake.

thank you sockfinder. Good to know. They were all over the house so I'm trying to figure out which areas were the worst. I read online that a vinegar, baking soda concoction can work. Definitely have a pretty tight budget so may need a hazmat type get up to go the bleach and air out route. The sub floor is concrete.

Just wanted to say your house is amazing! Can't wait to see what you do. I had a smoker in my condo before I bought it. You could tell that it had been professionally cleaned and aired out for some time yet there was still smelled. Removing the carpet did wonders and made it livable (I polished the concrete floor underneath). The kitchen still had a light odor but tolerable/livable. Once I removed the cabinets, it was as good as new. Good luck!

I think bleach could possibly be effective on a concrete sub. I'm not an expert on this, though. Scour the web for info to find cases where it has worked. My understanding is that the odor creeps back up. You have one person ^up there^ who says it worked for them.

Chloramines and chlorine gas are skin and eye irritants. You'd want a planned path to treat en route to the exit. You can buy a tyvek suit, at minimum I'd recommend clothing-covered skin, chemical goggles, and a respirator - these few items will run you $60ish. And don't do it alone - someone needs to be outside. We had to clear my house from the mixing of a few ounces of the stuff. Had I not experienced that, I would have said you'll probably be fine. Now I say be over-cautious or get an expert.

Get some expert opinions. Concrete is porous so you really need to get rid of it deep down or it will travel back up.

Google concrete polishing professionals in your area and get quotes on cleaning/staining. They'll know what to do. I always get at least 3 estimates and usually pick up tips/tricks in the process. Then you can decide if it's worth doing yourself or hiring out.

er612 and life4real I just set 2 appts for quotes. I am going to clean with baking soda and vinegar this weekend so we can tolerate being in there while we working on other stuff for now.

Whenever I think of MCM, I think of orange. Could be cool as an accent color on the exterior.

We've used a product called Kilz, it's a primer and odor blocker.
Used it on a bathroom floor (before new tile was installed) and on the concrete basement floor. Bye bye kitty odor.

pat1250 we are quite familiar with kilz and use it a lot. Good info!

I second Natures Miracle. It has the enzymes that break down the urine. Bleach does not. I know bleach is cheap, but you need the bacterial enzymes. I've used it and swear by it. Buy it in the big container. It's not that expensive. You spray it on, no need to soak it.

The Kilz primer is a good idea too. Although I don't know if that's recommended to paint onto concrete. I would contact the company for that one.

I'm the one who mentioned bleach. I wasn't around when it was done, I just know she left the windows open the whole time. Better safe than sorry, so please pay attention to @sockfinder!!!

If this is on a slab I would just have a skim coat of concrete installed and in my experience the dry wall needs to replaced about 2 ‘ up all over

My house had a lot of cat damage. We used a black flashlight in the dark to find the bad areas. We drew around them with a marker. We cut out the bad areas, marked the bad areas on the concrete, pulled the rest of the carpet. I bought an enzyme cleaner at a commercial cleaning supply place. I believe we got the floor wet and covered it in plastic drop cloths - it was supposed to stay damp for a bit. Once dry, I used BIN on the marked areas. The baseboard was all removed - we were replacing it any way. The dry wall was cleaned and primed with BIN 3' up the wall. We read that the lower drywall may have to be replaced - we wanted to try the cleaning and BIN first.
I think I used vinegar and baking soda to scrub before the enzyme stuff - it was so horrible, I worked hard to block the whole memory.

Spending the $10 or so for an ultraviolet flashlight from the pet store will help find hidden stains on wall and places where urine has soaked into the concrete.

tons of great suggestions, thanks. we pulled all of the carpet out over the past couple of days and the smell is MUCH better already. they didn't have nature's miracle at lowe's when i was there, so i got urine odor and stain remover from chlorox; it is working great. i think it probably works much the same way nature's miracle does, says some stuff about enzymes and so forth on the bottle.

Great news!

Just FYI we bought a home with dog damage on the wood floors. We had it all pulled up. We were told that in the summer the smell could get worse. No idea if this is an issue w concrete or not.

well that would suck! sorry to hear about your experience. they had two layers of carpet down there and i am hoping that was enough to keep it from soaking into the concrete. i did get a uv flashlight to help find the spots that didn't stick out right away; i didn't notice anything on the actual concrete.

If you do decide you want Nature's Miracle, it's sold in pet stores. I'm glad your house is smelling better.

These are quite unlike Wright's blocks. Several architects used these, but they saw most use as pol/patio fences.

cat pee carpet gone and being replaced

The floors are looking awesome! We have decided to get a professional designer opinion on the rest of the house.